Working with Sixteen
Sixteen is a Social Enterprise based in Bristol. Our team of Job Coaches and
Employment Support Workers support people with a Learning Disability, Autism or other disadvantages to find employment. We follow evidence based Supported Employment practices and processes to achieve the best results for the people we support.
We are responsible for delivering a number of programmes and contracts across the area and work with partnership with disabled people themselves, their families, educators and other Health and Social Care professionals.
We believe everyone can work given the right support.
Sixteen Co-operative is in the final stages of agreeing funding for new programmes and is therefore looking to expand its capacity in the Bristol and South
Gloucestershire areas and to support more people into work.
We are keen to find individuals who share our interest and enthusiasm for supporting adults with learning disabilities and autism to find and keep jobs.
The roles
We have a number of roles within the organisation including Senior Job Coaches, Job Coaches and Employment Support Workers. All team members play a crucial role in supporting people to find and keep the right job. We do this by matching the skills, talents and aspirations of the individual with the needs for the local employer.
The work involves working, supporting and job coaching in a wide range of
employment settings including manufacturing, catering, office work, open air work including farming etc. and can involve standing for long periods of time.
In addition, in order to analyse the tasks before training people in their work settings, team members will frequently need to carry out a particular work task process in order to fully understand it.
The people
Each role has different requirements but in all cases we are looking for people who may have experience of working with people with a learning disability and who ideally have experience of a number of different job settings.
Our Senior Job Coaches oversee particular programmes ensuring everyone involved is supported to meet their full potential whether through an internship or
community programme. This demands organisation and previous project
management experience as well as the ability to co-ordinate colleagues. A large part of the Job Coaches role involves talking to employers, discussing their recruitment needs and matching them to the skills of the people we support.
Once in work, Job Coaches and Employment Support Workers spend time supporting the new employee to learn the tasks of the job and to settle in.
We are looking for applicants keen to work with individuals and their families as well as employers and other professionals. You must be able to work unsupervised but remain part of a wider team committed to supporting more people into work.
This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who enjoys working with a variety of different individuals. Training, support and access to our Community of Practice will be available. Commitment to continued development and training will be required.
The arrangements
Most of our team work from home but spend the majority of their time out and about travelling widely across the locality.
The organisation is committed to building a strong staff team and offers a range of great employee benefits including-
Competitive rates of pay
28 days holiday (pro rata) with additional ‘long service’ leave entitlement
Pension
Flexible working policies
Regular training and supervision
A real say in the development of the organisation
The team comes together regularly to share experiences; receive mentoring, support and training.
Team members work a variety of different hours but a degree of flexibility is required in order to meet the needs of job. This can involve weekend and evening working as this duty is shared amongst the team and is arranged on a rota basis.
Learning how to effectively support people into work takes time. Sixteen recognises this and helps all new workers access training and mentoring over time to ensure that they have the right skills and knowledge to support people to get jobs.
Training, co-ordination and a community of practice will be provided and is an important part of working at Sixteen. Regular team meetings are held and all Job Coaches and Employment Support Workers are expected to attend. You must be able to commit to a weekly phone call to the co-ordinator at an appointed time and monthly supervision.
We are interested in hearing from self motivated people who are able to work unsupervised but be part of a team keen to develop their skills and experience to support disabled people into employment.
For more information about Sixteen, our roles and Supported Employment, please visit www.sixteencoop.co.uk
How to apply
If you are interested in the post and you have visited our website, then contact Sheren Wyatt at sheren@sixteencoop.co.uk for further information, Job description and Person Specification.
About the Organisation
Sixteen aims to add a new approach to the provision of employment support to people with a learning disability in England.
The unique approach of blending tried and tested supported employment
approaches, a mutual stance and elements of social franchising mean Sixteen offers a refreshingly new way of working.
Local authority areas buy into Sixteen and mould the service to fit their own local circumstances; individuals and families who hold an individual budget are able to get the support they want secure in the knowledge that all employment workers within Sixteen are trained and supported to the highest standards.
The workers themselves are not only able to use Sixteen as the vehicle for their own employment, but be able to develop a career within the supported employment industry.
Vision
The key objective of Sixteen is to establish a sustainable social enterprise that:
Provides good quality job coaching in line with developing quality standards
Provides an employment ‘vehicle’ that enables individuals to work in the field supported by an organisation that they have a stake in
Builds the capacity of job coaching support on the ground that can be accessed by local authorities working through the change from commissioned services to individual budgets
Help other providers in need of support for their staff (including self employed Job Coaches)
o continuing professional development o community of practice
Sites are chosen specifically because either they will have identified a gap in the supply of quality employment support locally or that they will have taken some steps
to develop job coaching capacity and now need a delivery ‘vehicle’ in place to offer a range of co-ordination and mentoring support.
At the heart of the plan is the creation of a mutual organisation that combines elements of social franchising with supported employment values at its core.
About Supported Employment
Supported Employment has been successfully used for decades as a personalised model for supporting people with significant disabilities to secure and retain paid employment. The model uses a partnership strategy to enable people with
disabilities to achieve sustainable long-term employment and businesses to employ valuable workers
Work plays a pivotal role in defining an individual's quality of life and must be an integral part of a person's overall life experience. Supported employment offers an innovative process that enables employment as an achievable goal for people with disabilities just as it is for non disabled people in our society.
This model has at its heart the notion that anyone can be employed if they want paid employment and sufficient support is provided and has a number of defined steps
Customer engagement:
Many potential jobseekers are using traditional day services or receiving support from health and social care agencies. Others may be isolated at home or in danger of exploitation. People leave education every year with the hope of finding employment. In the past, professionals and families have had low expectations of people with disabilities finding sustainable work. It is important that expectations of employment are raised across health and social care services. The co-location of staff is particularly useful to achieve this.
Vocational Profiling:
This is a "getting to know you" process where we identify the aspirations, learning needs, individual skills, former experiences and job preferences of the participant. Carers and support workers should be involved so that we get a holistic picture of the jobseeker. The profile informs the practical job finding and makes it more likely that we find a high quality job match. We look to identify the type of occupation that best suits a person's skills and preferences. Many people have never worked or not worked for many years and will need support to make informed choices about career opportunities.
Employer engagement:
The third crucial element is the job marketing process. This close engagement with employers helps them to overcome traditional recruitment and
selection barriers. We know that traditional recruitment techniques can be overly rigid and formal interviews seldom result in offers of employment.
Employers are increasingly recognising the value of "working interviews"
which allow individuals to demonstrate their skills in the workplace and allow
the employer to gather the sort of evidence that a formal interview seeks to capture.
Job Matching:
Once we secure employer commitment, a job analysis is usually undertaken.
This checks out any assumptions made in the job description and thoroughly investigates the job on offer so that we can describe all its aspects and those of the work place, including health and safety. Although it is common
practice for employers to set out the basics of a job for new recruits, it is not common for a detailed analysis of the job and environment to be available.
The job analysis might point towards ways of carving together parts of job descriptions that suit the workers' talents, or creating new job descriptions that suit the worker and are cost effective for the employer.
In-work Support:
The job analysis and profile ensure that support is properly considered and appropriate. Support is individually tailored and targeted where it is needed most ensuring a cost effective use of resources. It is important to offer appropriate levels of support and encourage the involvement of the employer and co-workers.
Career development:
Not many people stay in the same job for the whole of their working lives and people with disabilities are no different in having to adapt to changing labour markets and wanting to improve their working lives. Supported employment should encourage the career development of individuals by promoting training opportunities and seeking options for increased responsibility.
